Pro-Biotic Beverages: Water Kefir

Posted On February 26, 2014

Stephanie Kelley

Recently, I’ve been on natural pro-biotic food odyssey, exploring and experimenting with lacto-fermented vegetables. I was therefore quite excited to learn about a fermented pro-biotic beverage I had never heard of called water kefir.
 
Both milk and water kefir are pro-biotic beverages made with kefir grains, with a separate type being used for each beverage.
Kefir grains consist of a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast. The term “grain” simply refers to the culture’s appearance….they are translucent and gelatinous little nodules. They’re kind of cute, actually, little packages of live organisms.
 

I was introduced to water kefir by Dorothy Pelkey, whom I had met when I went to take photos of the quilt that the Tobicrafters had just completed.
Dorothy was telling the ladies at the quilting bee that she’d made cheese out of her kefir, and I had just had a conversation last week with someone who had mentioned that they wished that kefir was available locally, and here was someone who was making it in her own kitchen!
 

We should all be eating or drinking pro-biotic foods every day to help keep our digestive systems working properly. Scientists have discovered that our bowels contain as many neurons as our spinal columns…and they don’t even know what they do.
 

Digestive irregularities and bowel problems are the leading cause of work absenteeism in North America. We eat foods that contain genetically modified organisms, and most fruits and vegetables in our stores are loaded with pesticides, herbicides and fungicides.
 

Factory farmed meat animals are fed GMO food, and are shot full of anti-biotics which end up being consumed by humans. And what about the anti-biotics we take for infections? Every time we take anti-biotics the beneficial bacteria in our bowels are killed off too.
Eating micro-waved food is not doing our bodies any favours, either!
 

A way to reintroduce plenty of beneficial bacteria back into our bodies to help restore digestive health is to eat naturally fermented vegetables and yogurt, and to drink pro-biotic beverages.
 

I drove out to Four Falls to visit Dorothy and see her kefir in action. As these are living cultures, you can actually watch them bubble and grow….they are like having a new kind of pet!
Dorothy graciously gave me some water kefir grains to take home, which are right this minute working away in a jar of sugared water, growing by the minute.
 

It is easy to make. You simply add the grains to sweetened water and allow them to grow. You can add un-sulphured dried fruit, ginger slices or lemon halves, for instance, to flavour the water. Or, you can wait until it is done fermenting and add the liquid to your choice of juice.
 

Strain out the kefir grains to start a new batch… with proper care and feeding kefir grains should last indefinitely. And, if you are interested in trying this for yourself I will share kefir grains once I have an established colony!
 

Dorothy got her kefir grains in January of 2013. She’d read about them online, and made connection with a lady in Nova Scotia who had kefir grains to share. Some sources sell these grains, but as these beverages date back to biblical times most kefir culturers adopt a “pay it forward” attitude and freely share the grains with others.